Dota 2 Patch 7.06 Update: Fear the Reaper

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Published on: 17/05/2017

Dying just ain’t what it used to be

The latest Dota 2 patch is live, and by the looks of it, dying sucks (even more) now. While a slew of minor changes is to be expected, one that stands out is the complete removal of respawn talents—the special upgrades that were added in patch 7.00, they haven’t merely been buffed or balanced, but outright banished to the ether.

Why the big reset? Certain heroes were being favored in the competitive scene thanks to game-saving respawn talents. While most characters gained straightforward buffs like additional health and intelligence, heroes like Undying could respawn in a remarkable 4 seconds at level 10. As a result, the meta shifted, favoring characters that could respawn quickly to press objectives, strengthen a team’s defense, or make pivotal trades in a teamfight.

Respawn talents may be gone, but they’re not forgotten. Valve replaced each talent with a new one, a move many players thought was coming given the overall placeholder feel of respawn talents. Now Undying gains +15 health regen, while Elder Titan receives a huge mana boost and Warlock summons a Golem upon dying.

Another big overhaul changed the mechanics of denying lane creeps. Now, instead of denying lane creeps to block the experience gained by the opposing team, denying grants 30% of the bounty EXP to the denying team. How this will affect competitive matches is yet to be seen, but right now it looks like the team that can prioritize lanes for effective leveling can maintain a significant advantage.

Other, less dramatic changes include an overall reduction to bounties, a slight increase to base mana, and neutrals spawning every minute instead of every 2 minutes. The full patch notes can be found on Dota 2 Official website.

Dota 2’s biggest event, The International, is just a couple months away (7th August 2017), and last year saw the largest Esports prize pool for a single tournament ever: over $20 million dollars. Until then, we’ll keep an eye on how pro Dota 2 players push the new patch to its limits.